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Harrisburg, PA – Gloria Martin-Roberts appeared for a live interview Monday night on “Real Rap with Ron Chapel”, a local Harrisburg Facebook radio show. The topic of discussion was the Election Day #Rafflegate controversy in Harrisburg, PA.

The highlights of the scandal featured a voter raffle that offered cash and iPhone prizes. Campaign workers were posted at polling locations in the city on Election Day offering raffle tickets to potential voters. The initial claim by incumbent Mayor Eric Papenfuse suggested this raffle operated in cahoots with the write-in Mayoral campaign of Martin-Roberts, and was essentially bribing people to vote for her. This claim resulted in the ruling of a court injunction and subsequently the Dauphin County Sheriffs shutting down the campaign activity at the polls.

In the interview, Martin-Roberts disputed the claim that her campaign was involved and exposed Eric Papenfuse and Alex Hartzler for committing voter suppression at the polls on Election Day. She distanced her campaign from the raffle and adamantly cleared the name of herself and campaign treasurer James Ellison.

Martin-Roberts detailed the timeline of events that preceded Alex Hartzler summoning hired men from the Cork & Fork staff to intimidate campaign workers and voters at the polls. It was also mentioned that prior to the election, Harrisburg School Board Director candidate Carrie Fowler was circulating unauthorized distasteful material that falsely represented the Gloria Martin-Roberts Mayoral Campaign.

This account of the situation sheds light on the questionable reporting of Pennlive and theBurg throughout this controversy, and their apparent conflict of interest with the Harrisburg Mayor. It also has brought new attention to the severity of the democratic in-fighting in Harrisburg.

Initially Papenfuse suggested that the voter raffle was directly tied to a write-in campaign of a candidate who was challenging his uncontested position on the ballot.

From the other campaign, it’s been alleged that Papenfuse was engaging in voter suppression on election day and is attempting to blackball the names of those who were campaigning for Martin-Roberts. Defense Attorneys may argue that the raffle is fully legal based on examples of similar voter rallies in California and elsewhere.